Police, community and calendar briefs for Dec. 7, 2013

The Ocala Police Department will conducting a roadside DUI checkpoint from 10:30 Saturday night to 1 a.m. Sunday in the 700 block of South Magnolia Avenue.

The purpose is to look for impaired drivers, driver’s license violators, equipment violations, people not using seat belts and other traffic infractions.

For more information, call OPD at 369-7000.

OPD: Woman drunk at medical office

A woman was charged Thursday with disorderly conduct after being accused of showing up intoxicated at a medical complex.

A staff member at an office at 2845 SE Third Court, Ocala, told an Ocala Police Department officer that Tammy M. West, 50, arrived to get a prescription for medication and appeared impaired. West was asked if she had been drinking and reportedly said she had a 12-pack of beer before driving to the office. West was making a scene and yelling at the staff, according to reports.

The staffer called police because she thought West might drive away intoxicated.

An officer arrived and West agreed to leave the building and gave permission for a search of her vehicle. The officer found a silver cup in a front holder, which contained a purple alcoholic beverage that West said was wine. She told the officer she was yelling at the nurses because she was upset she could not get her medication, the report states.

West was arrested and taken to the Marion County Jail.

Student charged in Walmart thefts

A high school student accused of removing items from shelves at two Walmart stores and returning them for gift cards has been charged with four counts of retail petit thefts.

Store officials at 4980 E. Silver Springs Blvd. told Marion County Sheriff’s Office deputies that shortly before 1 p.m. on Nov. 4 two males entered the store and got a wiring kit and took it to the service desk for a no receipt return and received a gift card. Around 5:15 p.m. the same day, the two came back in and took a prop kit and repeated the process. The student provided his driver’s license as identification during the transactions, according to the arrest report.

On Wednesday, he was arrested at Forest High School, where he is a senior.

Further investigation by detectives revealed that twice on Nov. 6 the same student had taken a prop kit and a basketball compression sleeve without paying at Walmart at 4980 E. Silver Springs Blvd. and returned them both for gift cards, according to the report.

On Thursday, the student, already jailed on the first two charges, was arrested on the additional charges, on his 18th birthday.

Report: Wife tried to run over husband

CITRA — Sheriff’s officials say a 43-year-old woman slapped and attempted to run over her husband with a Jeep because he refused to stay home with her and instead wanted to go out with his friends.

Heather A. Green was arrested Thursday and charged with aggravated domestic battery and simple battery, according to a Marion County Sheriff’s Office report.

Deputies went to a Citra address in response to a disturbance. On scene, the victim told them his wife had hit him three times and tried to run him over. A neighbor who witnessed the incident said Green struck her husband in the face three times and drove her Jeep around the yard trying to run him down. The neighbor said the husband avoided being hit by hiding behind a piece of machinery in the yard, according to reports.

A deputy found the wife hiding under the porch of a mobile home. She told the deputy she thought it was a good place to hide because “dogs go under there,” the report said.

According to the report, she acknowledged trying to run the man over, adding, “I was trying to talk to him.”

Green was taken to the Marion County Jail.

Cash and jewelry stolen from hotel

Cash and jewelry amounting to thousands of dollars were reported stolen Thursday from an Ocala hotel.

A man and woman at the Hampton Inn at 3601 SW 38th Ave. told an Ocala Police Department officer they checked in around 5 p.m. Wednesday, secured their belongings in the room and went to eat.

They returned and went to bed, the couple said, and early Thursday morning, while checking a travel bag, the woman discovered some documents were out of place. She checked the bag further and found that more than $14,000 worth of cash and jewelry were missing.

They reported the incident to hotel management. It was later discovered that the room’s door had pry marks.

Another couple told an officer about similar damage to their room door on Dec. 4. Officials said it doesn’t appear anyone entered that room.

Anyone with information can call OPD at 369-7000, the Crime Line at 369-7061 or Crime Stoppers at 368-STOP.

Protest calls for Floridians to briefly shut off electricity

Chuck Berry, of St. Petersburg, is encouraging people statewide to shut off their electricity for five minutes at 9 p.m. Saturday night as a form of silent protest.

Berry spent $707.99 on classified ads to publicize the protest.

They were published in the Ocala Star-Banner, The Gainesville Sun, the Independent Florida Alligator, Orlando Sentinel and Tampa Bay Times.

Berry said he can pay his bills but is worried about those who can’t.

He also is upset about state law that allows utility companies to collect money for nuclear plants that might never be built.

Lane closures on U.S. 441, SR 40 set to begin Sunday

Beginning Sunday, and continuing each night until the job is completed, multiple lanes in each direction on U.S. 441 and State Road 40 — at the Pine Avenue and Silver Springs Boulevard intersection and on south U.S. 441 just north of U.S. 27 – will be temporarily closed as the Florida Department of Transportation and contractor Infrastructure Corporation of America remove and replace overhead signs.

Contractor personnel will be removing overhead signs with failing reflectivity and replacing them with new ones.

Work is to begin each night after 9 p.m. with the road reopened by 7 a.m. The job is expected to be completed within five to seven days. No work is scheduled for Dec. 13 or Dec. 14.

Weather conditions and other unforeseen circumstances could alter work schedules.

To learn more, go to www.cflroads.com and click on Lane Closures.

Bistro gala Sunday to benefit hospice’s children’s program

Cuvée Wine and Bistro is hosting a benefit from 6 to 9 p.m. Sunday at 2237 SW 19th Ave. Road, Ocala, to benefit the children’s program at Hospice of Marion County.

The black-tie-optional gala will feature gourmet food stations, champagne sangria and assorted wines. Tickets are $125 per person, available at Cuvée and Hospice of Marion County.

TOY RUN: 15th annual motorcycle toy run, leaves at noon Sunday from Harley-Davidson of Ocala, 5331 N. U.S. 441, south to Northeast 20th Street and south on Magnolia Avenue, ending in downtown Ocala. Donation of unwrapped toy or $5. Live music 2 to 6 p.m. (854-1190 or 732-2488)